The Matrix - The Coming of the Second
by Doust19
Summary: After they found Neo, the Oracle prophecized the coming of a Second. They've found his body, the've got his pod, now they just have to find his mind
1. Default Chapter

  
The world is a lie. I already know that.  
I think about a lot of things in my dark, metallic world in which I live. The room of metal rattles again. The hovercraft must be hitting some turbulence in the sewerways. I think about many things indeed, such as Zion, my family, my mission and the Matrix. Especially the Matrix and what I can do in there.  
My name is Brian Tarashima and I am a child of Zion. Yep, your good old-fashioned, home growned child of Zion with no armports, just a surgically-implanted input-output port in the back of my head so I can enter into the digital world that our enemies have constructed for us.  
Why are we doing this? I wondered that question for the hundredth time of my life. We are working hard- and dying to bring a few thousand human farms into a world they don't want to go. A world that is about to wink out forever.   
  
I got off my bed and landed on the cold, hard, metal floor. Time for the morning search with Puma.  
***  
"I've been thinking," Puma said to me as we walked down the sidewalk, through the throngs of people, both of our black trenchcoats billowing about us.  
"About what?" I asked, looking through my dark sunglasses at the city, filled with people, all of it a lie generated by the Matrix.  
"You know he could be anywhere, eh?" he said. "Looking through the Matrix day and night is probably not going to help. I mean, there's millions, maybe billions in here. It's-"  
My phone rang, cutting his off. I reached into my coat and brought it out.  
"Hunter here," I said.  
"Brian? We may have found him!" the voice of Daggert rang back.  
"You mean it?" I asked, in shock. "Where are yo- sorry. It's a habit." I knew fully well that the agents tap the lines.  
"Can't talk now! We have to get out!" the voice came back.  
"Agents?" O asked but the phone went dead. I resisted the urge to take out the .38 Browning pistol in my coat.  
"Agents?" Puma asked, reaching into his own coat and scanning the crowds of people.  
"Agents," I answered, hanging up the phone and opening it again. "Or, at least I think so."  
"Operator," Maybell's voice came from the hovercraft.  
"We need an exit," I said.  
"Maybe you can help out Daggert and James, Hunt," Maybell replied. I gritted my teeth.  
"Where are they and how bad?" I asked.  
"They are at the old Dannison Warehouse at the waterfront. There's two agents with them and quite a few police," she answered.  
"Damn," I muttered. "Okay, I'll call back later."  
***  
After Morpheus found the One (Neo, who I was very honoured to meet personally a few years back), the Oracle prophecized a Second who would help the One bring the destruction of the Matrix. We found the man, who was coincidentally our leader, Kayson, identified by a strange symbol on his hands which was the Greek symbol for 'beta'. Unfortunately, just before that discovery, the robots had found him and he was erased and plugged back into a power plant. Luckily, the Agents never had a chance to hack into his mind and find the codes for Zion. Puma and I infilterated the power plant and managed to locate his pod. Using the hooks on our ship, the Succubus's Kiss, we took the pod and safely connected it to an apparatus on the ship similar to those in the farms. Now we spend every waking hour searching for him through the Matrix.  
***  
"Hold on," I said, walking towards a shop labeled 'Hunters Tools and Home Defence'. I came in, a bell on the door jingling, and the large, bald fat man at the counter greeted me. Puma came in behind me, looking at me quizzically.  
"What'll it be, folks?" the fat man asked. I looked around at the racks of guns.  
"I'll take that, and that, and thoses, and three of those, and that," I said, pointing to various weapons. I turned to Puma, who was smiling with the realization of what I was doing. "What about you?" I asked.  
Puma looked at me then at the guns. Slowly, he picked out several weapons. The fat man put them all on the counter then rang in the price. He went under the counter and laid a fat pile of coloured sheets on an empty space of the counter.  
"You'll have to fill out these for-" he was cut off as I pulled out my .38 Browning and fired twice. His kneecaps exploded, dropping him instantly and spraying the counter with blood. While he swore and screamed, I took the weapons, loaded them and placed them into my coat. I turned to Puma, who had done the same.  
"Let's go,"  
I walked purposely out of the shop and towards our car, an unmarked black auto that was quite customized, weapon-wise. Getting in, I waited for Puma, then began to drive off.  
"That was a little... brutal," Puma said, slowly.  
"So? He has a phone in reach. He'll get help and heal," I replied. I leaned forwards suddenly, as I neared the waterfront, ugly building that was the Dannison Warehouse. Police cars surrounded it. I swore and pulled up into the gravel parking lot. We opened the doors and walked towards the warehouse as three police officers broke off of the pack and came towards us. I tried to avoid the gaze of the Agent, who was speaking with the officers.  
"Sirs, this is a police investigation, you have to- HUFF!" he cried as I darted forward, my hand slamming him up into the air as Puma whipped up his arm and emptied his .45 Colt into the Agent's head. I pulled out a .357 Winchester hunting rifle and whirled, firing it. Three of the officers went down in a mist of red.  
"Move, Puma, move!" I yelled, running forward as a nearby officer shook, as if having a seizure. Puma leapt straight up as the Agent transfigured into him, twin 9mm Uzis roaring in his hands. I backflipped straight up, to land behind the car, firing the rifle at as much officers as possible. Puma landed.  
"Only six of them left," Puma said.  
"Hold them off, I'll get into the building," I said, dropping the rifle of pulling out a 12mm Uzi and holding it in both hands. I suddenly felt and iron-grip on my shoulders as I was flung through the car. The screeching of metal upon metal stopped as I landed on the other side in a pile of metal shards and glass. I flipped to my feet and began to empty my clip at the Agent. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
I had never known Agents to be stupid, ever. This one however, as it leapt towards me,  
meaning to crush my head in with it's shoe, had to be the dumbest one I have ever seen. I rolled  
back to avoid the bullet-ridden body as it hit the ground, transforming into a dead officer. I leapt  
to my feet and looked at Puma, who held his smoking uzi.  
"Thanks," I said, picking up my 12mm uzi and surveying the scene. "Let's head in."  
I stepped over a dead police officer and walked towards the warehouse. Puma met me  
and we opened the doors. Three police officers were in my immediate view so they were the  
first to go down. Four ran in, firing their revolvers, making short work for me and Puma. I  
dropped the spent 12mm and looked at Puma, pulling out two 9mm Wz 63 Machine Pistols. At,  
least, I thought that was what they were, since I was focusing more on the officers and the Agent  
pulling out his own pistol. I leapt into the air as the Agent fired. I was vaguely aware of Puma  
yelling "Get Daggert and them!" as I emptied the guns at the officers and at the Agent. I dropped  
them as the Agent, unharmed, leapt up to meet me. I whirled, catching him on the mouth, as we  
met. I flew to the opposite side, sure that was a few ribs that the Agent had cracked. I quickly  
got a hold of myself and landed. Pulling out two .44 Auto Mags, I surveyed the building as I  
strafed, firing. The building was large and square, with two floors connected by elevators leading  
to railways attached to each side. In one of the doors on the railway was Daggert and his friend,  
whose name I always forget. First of all, though, with the police officers calling back-up, I'd have  
to take out them. Puma was doing his job fine so I decided to help him. I dropped the two Mags  
as I leapt, touching the walls as I ran. The next weapons out of my coat were two 9mm C1s. I  
had time to savour one officer staring in shock as I flipped off the wall, firing as I went vertical,  
taking out three of them. I landed and dropped them as I brought my hands up to block the  
powerfists of the Agent, who moved in faster then I could jump. I kneed him in the chest twice,  
allowing me enough leverage to whirl, breaking the hold he had on me. I whirled in mid-air,  
roundhousing him. I landed and recieved a punch from him which sent me flying across the  
room. I slapped out my hands as I came to recieve the wall and, slamming my feet into it, used  
enough of the momentum to launch me up the wall and onto the first floor railway. The five  
officers in front of me went down under two blazing Defender revolvers. Dropping them and  
pulling out two 7.65mm Skorpions, I noticed Puma staring upwards. I looked up at the second  
floor, where police officers were pouring out. Bingo, I thought. That's where they were.  
"Look out!" Puma yelled and I launched myself sideways, catching only the graze of the  
Agent's leg. I drove a desperate punch and leapt back, firing my Skorpions. The bullets tore up  
the rail, the railway and the police behind the Agent, but apparently the Agent was well enough to  
drive up and through the upper railway. It's not real, I thought and the pain lessened. But there  
was still the pain. In revenge, I blew the Agent's head away as he stuck it through the hole I  
made. I reloaded the twin 7.65mm PP Walthers and looked towards the door the police were  
coming through. I put the Walthers back into my coat - they were the only weapons I had left,  
save my Browning - and ran towards the police. The first only had time to yell a warning as I  
leapt up, driving a foot into his solar plexus and the second into his cheekbone. I flipped in mid-  
air, kicking two of the officer's revolvers through their holsters. I completed the flip, caught the  
revolvers, spun them on my hands and emptied them into the mass of officers. Dropping the  
spent guns, I grabbed the last officer's head and smashed it against the rail, sending blood  
exploding over it. I turned towards the door and opened it. The next thing I knew, I was lying in  
the remains of a window, all the way on the other side of the railway, seeing the two Agents walk  
out.  
This had to be the day for stupidity, on all sides. I was stupid to walk casually into a  
room with two Agents in it and the two Agents were stupid to leave Daggert and whatshisface. I  
just had to stall them, I thought, and Daggert should be up and running. I leapt to my feet as the  
Agents pulled out their weapons.  
Oh, crap.  
I leapt backwards, through the window, as the bullets shot by me. I caught onto the  
ledge and flipped upwards, kicking through the side of the window, sending bricks onto the  
railway.  
Alright, Agents, it's Go-time!  
I kicked a brick into the air and shot it at the Agents with my foot. The Agent calmly  
chopped it into pieces. I did it to another one as I whipped up the twin Walthers. The Agent did  
the same and I was in the air, firing the Walthers at them.  
They moved too damn fast!  
I threw my empty Walthers at them and aimed a jump-kick for their faces. They  
sidestepped out of the way and caught my leg.  
Did I say crap before? Cause THIS was crap!  
I hit the ground hard and I lay there. I looked up with blurry eyes to the second floor  
where they had thrown me off of. I rolled backwards to my feet and backed up as one of the  
Agents leapt to the ground floor. I backed off until I was side to side with Puma, who had  
finished reloading a 12 Gauge Beretta Shotgun. The Agent smiled as Puma fired, which I took to  
be a bad sign. The Agent leapt into the air and soared up over us. Grabbing a chain attached to  
the ceiling, the Agent landed and whipped the chain out, cutting the shotgun in half as it fired and  
knocking Puma down to the ground, an ugly red welt across his cheek, which was slowly  
evaporating as we had been trained whenever we were hurt. It's not real, it's not real, that was  
our mantra. It had better healing powers then modern medicine. I had healed a broken leg with  
that.  
The Agent shot forward and picked me up by the neck and slammed me against the wall.  
"Humans," it said, mockingly, as I pulled out my .38 Browning and spattered what was  
left of it's black heart against the floor. I landed and picked up Puma. A large bang from above  
sent me looking up to the first floor. Daggert had indeed escaped and was standing over the first  
Agent with a revolver in hand.  
"Good work!" I yelled and flipped up my phone.  
"Operator," Maybell said.  
"Exit, got Daggert, need, now," I stammered.  
"There's one of thirty-first. Hotel," she replied.  
"Okay," I said, putting the phone up and staring at the door as it opened.  
The two Agents walked in and pulled out their pistols.  
"Crap,"  
We got running. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
And did we run.   
"Operator?" I barely heard Maybell over the sound of my beating heart. There were gunshots as Daggert, Puma, uh... James! That's his name! , and I ran towards the wall of the warehouse and jumped, sailing up to the second ramp.  
"Yeah, Maybell?" I asked, firing my Browning at the Agents as they came in. I saw the glint of police uniforms behind them. "We need an exit, uh, now!"  
James and Daggert leapt through the hole in the wall that I had made before, followed by Puma and me. With a whooshing sound, the two Agents were on the second ramp.   
"There's an exit on the phone in First and Central subway," Maybell replied.  
"We should split up!" I yelled as we scurried up the wall to the roof. "Meet at the subway!"  
The roof exploded open as an Agent burst through it. I chanced a kick at it's head and missed, earning a blow in the stomach sending me flying into Puma. I rolled with the hit, on my feet mere seconds after we both hit the ground but by the then the second Agent had climbed to the roof. Daggert and James leapt to the next building and leapt out of sight. I leapt in the air and whirled, aiming a kick at the second Agent. It was like kicking into a bag filled with sand. I tried to block the first three punches but there was no way to dodge the fourth.   
"Let's move!" Puma said and we were off as four police officers managed to get to the roof. I leapt off the building with Puma, soaring down to the ground below. I rolled as I went down and was at my feet the second we hit the ground, sending cement shards everywhere. The Agents had the same idea and I felt a bullet whiz past my ear. Puma and I were running, eyes looking everywhere for where the Agents would turn up next. I swore as a schoolbus suddenly swerved in our direction. I jumped upwards, landing on it's roof and found the nearby hotdog vendor suddenly wearing a suit, sunglasses and packing lead. I landed on the ground and rolled to avoid the gunfire and was running again. An mother checking on her baby was suddenly firing at me and so was the paperboy. Three police cars suddenly drove out in front of me and out came several officers.  
"Freeze!" they yelled. I leapt up and flew at the officer, grabbing the gun he had and his arm. I whirled in mid-air with it, turning the officer and firing the gun, hoping some of the bullets hit the Agent. I let go, flew backwards and somersaulted to my feet as I hit the ground. The three officers fell to my Browning.   
"Brian!" Puma yelled, pointing to the entrance to the subway. I nodded and ran at it full speed as a sewer entrance and the door to a popular department store burst open and suddenly there was flying missiles of death about me. I looked to either alleyway and saw Daggert and James running towards us. We all leapt down the subway entrance together.  
"James first," Daggert insisted when we leapt for the ringing payphone.   
"Uh... Puma," I urged, turning suddenly at the sound of footsteps. Lots of them.  
"Daggert, you next," Puma said and watched as Daggert disappeared.   
"Puma..." I continued as I saw the Agent's feet appear at the top of stairs. I grabbed the now userless phone and put it back on the hook.  
"C'mon..." I hissed at the phone as I saw the Agent run down the stairs. It rang as the Agent raised his gun. I picked it up. This was going to be a close call.  
I can't remember what I screamed in that micro-second in which the phone exploded, but it was probably one of those words that gets you fired from jobs and lands you in principal's offices.  
I launched myself backwards, flipping as the second gunshot came from the Agent as the second Agent appeared as well as the police officers. I turned and ran, holding up my cell phone.  
"Operator," a very exasperated Maybell began.  
"Exit! Now!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs to the subway exit.  
"Take your next turn down the alleyway and leap over the aqueduct. The lake is beyond the fence. Beyond the lake is Major Park. In the Major Park playground there's an exit. It's the closest one."  
"Fine!" I yelled and hung up and then thought better of it. If I pissed her off now, would she upload me? Of course she would. The walls around me exploded from the gunfire as I exited onto the street. A car skidded to a stop in front of me and I flipped to the side to avoid the gunfire from inside. I turned to the right and ran down the alleyway. The two Agents ran down behind me, mere metres from me. The alleyway came up to a ledge, overlooking the huge drop into the abandoned aqueduct and on the otherside was a tall wooden fence. Over that was a lake. Beyond the lake was Major Park and the exit. I ran up onto the wooden box and leapt, turning as I went, firing my Browning as I flew backwards, towards the fence. One of the Agents leapt to the side to avoid the shots and lost the momentum to jump. The second Agent leapt, got caught in the shoulder and dropped to his "death". The police officers fired but miraculously missed me as I flew over the fence. I turned as I flew and went into a bullet shape and dived down into the lake below. I began to swim as fast as I could and managed to make it to land before the telltale sign of the Agent's splash behind me. The second Agent came out from behind a tree and fired. I leapt up, to avoid the bullet, and bounced off the tree, landing a kick at the Agent's face that knocked him to the ground. I rolled and flipped in the air. I landed and launched a kick at the nearest tree. The trunk exploded and fell, causing the first Agent to dodge it. I turned and ran, smiling. I might just make it out alive today. I hit the ground as the Agent grabbed my legs. The Agent smiled at me for a brief moment and then snarled as he swung his arms and launched me straight into a tree. I hit the ground, bark flying about me and leapt up as the Agent flew forward. I kicked him twice and swung my arm, knocking the sunglasses off his face.  
Oh... crap... I thought as he turned his face towards me. He grabbed me by the jacket and swung his arms and threw me at another tree. This time the stump gave away and the trunk fell as I leapt up, hitting my back and causing me to hit the ground again. I lifted it up and threw it away and groggily got to my feet. My smash to my face that just barely failed to break my nose knocked me into another tree. I got to my feet and looked at the Agent who took out his gun and pointed it at me.  
"Pathetic," the Agent hissed and fired. I slapped the tree with both hands and leapt, sailing up into the tree branches as the bullet flew into the spot where I was microseconds before. Off in the distance, I heard the ring. I took a run and jumped, flying through the air, towards the payphone. I hit the ground and was up again, running. Running my ass off as the bullets flew through the air. I ignored the hit to my leg and grabbed at the phone. Hell, it wasn't real anyways. There was an electronic beep as I opened my eyes and found myself back home. 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
I was out! I was out!   
"Careful, Hunt, hold on... does this hurt?"  
Maybell carefully pushed the bloody area on my leg. It sure did hurt, but I didn't care! My body was still flowing with the adrenaline and exultion from the escape. I had killed one Agent - not permanently, of course - and had run from the other, with only a bullet wound to the leg! The leg!  
"Hey, Hunter," Daggert said, leaning over my head. "I already told Puma this. Thanks for getting me and James out."  
"No problem," I said and winced as Maybell closed my cut and applied sealent on it.  
"Walk gingerly," she said and smiled. She was young and fit - we were all fit. Outside of the Matrix, I don't know one human who was overweight - and gorgeous, with dirty red hair that came to his neck and piercing green eyes. Her dark skin was filthy from the sweat and oil of the hovercraft but it didn't matter. She was gorgeous all the same.  
"Thanks, Hunter," James said.   
"No problem," I replied and got up from the chair. I stepped out, careful not to put much weight on my right leg and limped to the wall. "Where's Puma?"  
"He's feeding your pets," Maybell replied and sat back down at her operating chair.  
I carefully limped down the hall towards my room.  
***  
When I had turned fifteen, I was working in the hangar of Zion, carrying boxes as a part time job. I had already been entranced with the tales of the world from before by the men and women who searched for Neo in the Matrix. One day, when I had lifted one box and put it onto another, a man from a hovercraft who had managed to reconstruct a video camera and a television from blueprints taken from the Matrix, had shown his footage. I was terrified by the outer world it had shown. I had been told by my teachers of how both we and our enemies had nearly destroyed the world, but in my mind was always the dirty, yes, filthy, yes but sunny world that AI had constructed for us. From then on, I had been part of the leading enviromental faction to transform at least a chunk of this planet to what it was. In my opinion, and possibly the opinions of most people in the faction, there was no point in freeing humans from the filthy yet sunny world of the Matrix to the dark and scary world of today. Thus, we went to work, working on many secret projects. We had considerable success, with the birth of the Zion Arboretum and other buildings. I had been credited with the creation of the first rose in nearly one thousand years. The rose is on a patch of grass, which is concealed in a case in the Arboretum. We were progressing quickly towards our goal, and some may argue, progressing quickly towards becoming God, but I had taken leave when the second single most important thing happened in my life. The first most was the rose. It had happened when I had turned seventeen and Zion had begun making Matrix warriors - as they were called - out of true humans, by implanting input/output ports in the backs of our heads. We were being given a seminar in highschool about the benefits of this career choice and I had scoffed - I was going to an enviromentalist and that was that - when I had met Morpheus. From there I was hooked and everyday within the exciting yet fake world of the Matrix, I am hooked even more. I was even more hooked when I met Neo, a few years ago, and had even spoken with him. Yet, I had always turned back to the environmentalist idea, I was still welcome there and technically still working towards the goal. I mean, why be a god in an unreal world when you can be one in a real one. I had managed to make small ferns and several small lizards. I had even named them and kept them in the my room.  
I entered my room and saw Puma leaning over the small glass case where I kept the plants and lizards. Puma and I, best friends in Zion and best friends now, shared a room and we both took turns feeding them. He finished pouring the food and turned to see me. I gingerly stepped in and sat on the bed.  
"Close one, huh?" I asked, smiling.  
"Close one?" Puma asked, unbelievingly. "Ten to two minutes ago, I thinking I'd be finished praying for your survival and praying over your corpse by now. Close one? I don't think the English language has words for how close that one was!"  
"I'm sure they do," I said and laid down, but that wasn't the point. The point was I had 'killed' one Agent and had outrun the second, alone. That was huge and I hadn't realized it until now.   
"Wanna train?" Puma asked.  
"Sure,"  
***  
"So where, exactly, is Kayson?" I asked as I sailed back, over the gap between two huge buildings, a katana in hand and a tennis raquet in the other. Suspened in space on either side of the gap were two backets.  
"Don't know, now," Daggert said, hitting the small orange ball with the raquet as he landed on the building, broadsword in his left. Puma attempted to leap in front of the ball, but missed. He flew down into the gap and slammed the sabre he had into the building, stopping his ascent. He began to climb. "But, we have his binary data and can tell where he is anytime on the computer."  
James hit the ball towards the basket and I leapt nimbly towards the flying missile. In the Matrix, my leg wound was gone and flying and jumping and climbing were my specialties. I hit the ball away from the basket and landed on the other side of the building.  
"Puma! Get James!" I yelled, as Daggert ran to the side to recieve the ball. He knocked it towards James and I clashed into him, my katana slicing into his broadsword. He swung and I leapt over it, despite the slash being at my head level. We called the game Swordball, with good reason.   
"Brian!" Puma shouted and I noticed the orange ball flying towards us out of the corner of my eye. I slashed downwards and Daggert parried it, leaving his torso open, which I kicked. As he flew back, I whirled, hitting the ball towards our basket. James ran, trying to intercept it, and was tackled by Puma. The ball flew, flying, and missed, barely.  
"No!!" I yelled. "Damn!"  
"End program," Daggert said, smiling, and as quickly as we went in, we were out.  
***  
"We have a problem," Maybell said. She was at the operating chair, looking at the Matrix's code.  
"Squiddies?" Daggert asked, leaping out of his chair. With Kayson gone, Daggert was second in command and with him gone, I was in command, though at those times, Maybell sure acted as if she thought she was. Puma, James and I slowly got out of the chair. We were sore from the game, me with my bad leg especially.  
"No," Maybell replied. "Agents. They're moving towards Kayson's house."  
"How many?" Daggert asked, moving towards the chairs again.  
"Three of them," Maybell replied. Daggert stopped and swore.  
"Wait a minute..." Maybell spoke, looking at the computer scene. "Damn! There's a glitch. I'll bet they've made Kayson's house impregnable."  
"No," I said, sitting back into the chair. Three Agents... damn... "They wouldn't be expecting us. They've probably just made it so that Kayson can't get out of his... what is Kayson living in?"  
"An apartment building. Ten stories," our resident female replied.  
"Move us up so we can broadcast," Daggert said and leapt into his chair. James and Puma looked at me, who was already seated, and reluctantly moved to their own chairs. We were going back in. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
They were police officers, two of them, who were entering tensely into the apartment lobby behind the SWAT team. I'm sure that they had police officer names like 'O'Grady' and 'Merle'. That didn't matter, however, as my two shurikens went into the backs of their necks. Puma and I hit the ground before they did and our two 9mm Uzis leapt into our hands.  
"Look out!" they called, as we rushed them, our sunglasses sparkling and our black trenchcoats flew behind me. "It's the terroists!"  
Puma and I leapt into the air, carrying us above their heads, managing to take out four of the ten that were in that room. I threw the spent uzis, shattering the noses of two of them and landed, my Browning in my left hand and a long ivory handled katana in my right. I landed the midst of them and immediately leapt up, my boots knocking into the faces of another two and the nearest one to me lost his upper torso. I whipped the bloody sword behind me and leapt backwards, flying towards the south wall as I fired my Browning wildly. Puma mowed the last ones with a 12mm Uzi he had just pulled out. He slammed a clip into it and turned towards me and nodded, smiling. I nodded back and flipped open my cell phone. Puma's eyes widened as he opened his mouth to speak. I held up my hand.  
"The line's clean," I replied. "Daggert?"  
"We're on the roof," Daggert relayed.   
"Okay, we'll start making our way upwards," I said and closed the cell phone. Opening it again, I held it to my ear.  
"Operator," Maybell's sexy voice came into my ear.  
"Maybell? This is Hunter," I began. "Do you have the architectural blueprints for the building?"  
"Yup," Maybell replied. "Unfortunately, there's four Agents."  
"Damn!" I hissed. "Okay, maybe I'll see you again soon alive. See ya."  
"Agents?" Puma asked. I nodded and reloaded my Browning as Puma swore.  
"Let's go," I said, twirling my katana and heading for the doors that opened into the rest of the building.  
"There they are!" I heard an Agent's voice. I twirled as bulletfire echoed about me. The room we were in was a big circular one with a reciever's desk, a nice red and black carpet and an escalator plus an elevator. Not real, I thought as I threw myself onto my back to avoid the bullets. I was not even close to being as fast as Neo, but I seemed to dodge the bullets all the same. I somersaulted back to my feet as Puma whipped around the frame, screaming his head off and firing the massive 12mm. The Agent leapt upwards and at me. I felt his fist slam into me before I bring my sword up. I rolled with the momentum, coming up instantly but the Agent was faster, bringing a whirlwind on me before I could focus. In a second, my katana was flying and by the time it had stuck into the nearby wall, he had executed six to my two punches. I whirled to the ground and swept the bastard but he was up before I was. And then, as a fist slammed into the ground beside me, a glowing police officer was on top of me, bullets all through his body. I got up as Puma dropped the 12mm and pulled out two PP Walthers.  
"Thanks," I said, releasing the katana from the wall. I went to the reception desk and whipped through the binder there. "Kayson Gray..." I read. They had even changed his last name. "Thirty one, sixtyith floor. Come on."  
I kicked open the elevator and opened the top emergency hatch. Taking the automatic grappling hook from my coat, I raise it and fired. Within seconds, there was a click. Puma came through the hatch and did the same.   
"Ce la vie," I said and cut the cord as I activated the hook with my thumb. The elevator instantly left my feet as it dropped and Puma and I were travelling quickly by the wall, counting each of the numbers.  
"Fifty one, fifty three, fifty five..." Puma counted on his side.  
"Fifty six, fifty eight," I counted as I readied my second grappling hook which I tied to each of us. "Sixty!"  
There was a snap and we were both hanging by the entrance for the sixtieth floor.  
"Ready?" I asked as Puma unhooked himself and grabbed onto a ledge.   
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied. We flipped up and attached timed mines to the elevator doors. Another flip and an explosion and we were through. The flame, melting shards of metal and smoke curled about me as we went through. I flew up to the side wall, running along it's surface, twin Brownings flashing into my hands. Another leap and I was vertical, and in the midst of the SWAT team. I landed and whirled three hundred and sixty degrees and watched four of them lose their heads. I backflipped and threw my katana into the torso of the nearest Agent. There was a flash and the Agent had become another SWAT team. Puma leapt up, firing both of his Walthers and completed a long flip. He landed and recieved a punch to his chest and sent him flying the length of the hallway. A punch to my chest and a chop to my neck sent me hitting the ground. I was barely concious before I saw a well tailored shoe in front of my face as I kneeled, trying to catch my breath. I looked up and saw an Agent looking down at me.  
"Another terroist, I presume?" he said.  
A leader, I knew, damn.  
"You a Smith, a Jones or a Brown?" I asked. They all looked the same to me.  
"I am actually neither of those Agents, Mister... I believe it's Taroshima?" he said, walking around to my side. "Brian Taroshima?"  
"Then?" I reached out and found the handle to my katana, pig sticking it's way out of a dead SWAT officer."  
"My name... is Agent White, Mister Taroshima..." he said. "It looks like your search is over. We have your Mister Gray, and he is within our custody."  
"Not really," a voice shot out. Agent White whirled, as did the rest of the Agents. The SWAT officers were slower and that gave me my chance. As Daggert and James slammed boots into the Agent's heads and leapt up, grabbed my katana and opened one officer's chest.  
"Puma!" I yelled as Puma also took his chance, breaking the necks of two of the officers. He threw me one of his PP Walters and we fired it into the crowd. A blast of pain exploded in my chin as I hit the ground. My cell phone rang as I landed.  
"I'm going to enjoy this," Agent White said, raising his gun and pointing it at my head. "As much as I can enjoy."  
I clicked my fingers together and grabbed the ringing cell phone, accidently knocking it open. I grabbed it and was about to launch it at Agent White's gun when I stopped. Maybell's voice was on the cell phone.   
"Helps on the way, Hunt!" her voice was ecstatic, near hysteria. "Help!"  
I heard an extremely familiar voice from down the hallway.  
"I give greetings to those that are brothers to us," the voice said as Agent White turned slowly. I didn't take the chance to escape. I couldn't, I was too shocked. There, at the end of the hallway, with a very confused Kayson, was Morpheus and a man beside him who could be none other then Neo. Of course it was Neo, I recognized him.  
"Morpheus," Agent White said, with a voice that was both in disgust and... was that fear? Agent White whirled and fired. I will tell you to this day, I have never seen a man move that fast. I blinked and there was a glowing police officer hitting the ground, a knife through his eye and Agent White's bullet in Neo's hand. The three other Agents dropped their guns and charged. Neo took a step forward and lifted a hand - almost leasurely. The Agent lifted up and flew through the roof. He didn't come down. Neo moved a hand and the other Agents exploded with the force of the chopping. I stared in shock. Morpheous smiled, showing white teeth.   
"Come with us," he said. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
"Your operator contacted us when we were near," Morpheus explained as he, Neo, the woman known as Trinity, Puma, Daggert, James and I were on the roof. "We went in as soon as we got into broadcasting range."  
"And you have Kayson?" I asked.  
"No," Neo said. The moonlight shone of his sunglasses. "They have him in a military building. We're going to have to break into it and get him back."  
"Damn," Daggert said. "We're going to have to go out and back in again to get more equipment."  
"Don't bother," Morpheus said, smiling again. I've never noticed how white his teeth was before. Not just white, but blindingly white. We turned as a massive helicopter landed, blowing our clothes and hair back until the helicopter stopped, idling. A slender, muscled woman leapt out with short black gelled hair, wearing sunglasses and a tight leather outfit. She leapt out and embraced Neo, kissing each other.   
"Is that?" Puma asked.  
"Yes," I replied. "Trinity."  
Trinity looked at us, her short black hair waving in the night air. She and Neo were lovers, I could tell by the way they acted around each other.   
"The helicopters loaded with weaponry, gentlemen," Morpheus said, approaching the helicopter, still smiling. "Shall we go?"  
I looked at Daggert, nodded and followed Morpheus.  
Minutes later, the helicopter pulled up on flew off towards a massive building.  
***  
"We'll meet you midway," I said, getting ready to jump.  
"Right," Morpheus said. I jumped, Puma jumped and Neo jumped. We flew down and landed on the roof of the building, the night concealing our figures.  
"That is quite a lot of weapons on that thing," Puma said as he watched the helicopter blew off. Neo laughed and nodded.  
Morpheus's operator, some guy named Tank, had drawn up the blueprints for the building we were about to crash. Kayson was being held by three Agents, including my old friend Agent White, in the exact middle of the building. It was yet another straight forward 'infliterate the building and kill everyone that gets in our way' missions that seems to always be with us. Puma ripped up the metal doorways on the roof and leapt through it, followed by Neo. I leapt through it and landed in a well-lit hallway. I pulled out twin 9mm Brownings and looked at Puma's double 12mm Uzis. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Neo hadn't pulled out any weapons at all.  
"What the hell is the purpose of this bloody thing?" Puma yelled, gesturing at the hallway. It was a long hallway, lit with rows of florescent lights on the ceiling. On either side, were two doors.  
"Looks like it meant to move people from Point A to Point B," I replied.  
"They know we're here," Neo said. "It could be a trap."  
"Only one way to find out," I chuckled and took a step. A single step. What happened next sounded like metal shrieking against metal.  
"Oh... crap..." Puma said, flinging himself to the ground as did I as the door in front of us exploded open, sending three dozen sharp needles towards us. Neo raised his hand and the needles stopped in front of him. I rolled to the side as another sounding of metal gave and the floors opened up, sending sharp flames up from the ground.   
"We got to get out of here!" Puma yelled, rolling himself.  
"No sh-" I somersaulted as a hole opened in front of me, sending me down a tunnel. I peered upwards and saw both Puma and Neo tumbling down as well. They had expected us. The bastard Agents had goddamn well expected us!  
I landed and rolled, coming up instantly. I whirled the second I heard the click of weapons, my 9mm Brownings firing. We had been desposited in a more proper hallway, well-lit with doors to offices on each side. An elevator door was at the back and a large room filled with cubicles at my front. Within the room was a veritable army of SWAT officers, doing their best to hit me. Well, I'll give them a challenge they'll none forget. For went to the side as Puma and Neo rolled up behind and jumped. I kicked up and flew up the wall to the side, twirling as I fired. I landed behind them and slid across the ground to the other wall, firing at their backs. Puma break-danced across to cover, firing his 12mms as Neo leapt into the air, over the bullets and towards the surviving officers. I somersaulted behind a few cubicles for cover as a few officers turned, firing at me. I put my foot under the cubicle's chair as I fired over the desk, and leapt up, kicking the chair at my enemies. It flew through the air and hit two, breaking the first one's neck and the second one's arm. I ran up and leapt into the air, driving my boot into the second's jaw, as I fired wildly about us. Between Neo, Puma and I, they were all dead within ten minutes. I slammed more clips into my Brownings and began to head towards the elevator. Puma and Neo followed. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
It was a trap. It was a goddamn trap! The damn 'bots knew we were coming and so a few dozen guards saw a paper flow by twice, or the same pigeon warble, and the building was rigged, the entire goddamn building!   
We had entered the elevator and Puma had moved to push the button.  
"Don't touch it," Neo said. "It's rigged to something, probably a high explosive."  
"Damn it!" I almost yelled. I whipped up my cell phone.  
"How do you know?" Puma asked.  
"The Matrix," Neo replied. "I see it in coding. All the time."  
"Daggert here," the phone came through.  
"Daggert!" the yelled as Puma and Neo ripped off the top of the elevator. "The entire building has traps! Everywhere!"  
"We found out," Morpheus was on the line. "You, Puma and Neo will have to do this alone. We are cut off."  
Sweat broke out on my forehead.  
"Cut off?"  
"Brian?" Puma asked as he got out his automatic grappling hook.  
"It will be hard, I know this," Morpheus said. "But I believe in you. Just focus. Plus, you'll have Neo on your team. Leave the Agents to him and get Kayson out."  
"Brian?" Neo asked. "Is that his name?"  
"Yeah, it's his real name," Puma replied. "But his hacker name is Hunter."  
"Hunter," Neo repeated.  
"Hunter?" Morpheus asked.  
"Okay," I said, hung up and pulled out of autohook. "Let's go. Neo, you'll have to be our eyes when it comes to these traps."  
"Good," Neo said as we got up onto the top of the elevator. "'Cause there are motion detectors covering the elevator walls upwards. Explosives again."  
"Damn," Puma said. "Well, then we're done, we can't get up then."  
"Not so fast," I said. "Neo, if you flew up there, could the explosions affect you?"  
Neo looked at me.  
"Or..." I continued. "Could you stop them?"  
"Geez, I-I don't know," Neo replied. "I've never tried anything like that."  
My cell phone rang.  
"You're going to have to try," I said and put the cell phone to my ears.  
"Agents and an army of officers coming your way," Maybell said and hung up.  
"And you're going to have to do it now," I finished.  
"What?" Puma asked. "What's going on?"  
"Agents and officers heading our way," I said. "Neo, if you do anything, do it now."  
It was amazing. Neo nodded and bent his knees and then moved, launching himself up the elevator shaft. Puma and I were knocked to the elevator roof from the force of the explosion. Heat welled up against my face and suddenly the heat intensified - and stayed there. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. Like I said, it was amazing. Neo said there, a black spot in a wall of chaotic lights. Balls of flame were frozen around him, shards of the wall simply stopped in mid-air, the massive explosions were there, so close you could touch them. Suddenly, a bullet went past my nose.   
"Go!" I yelled, firing my autohook up. Puma did the same. The hooks flew past Neo, hovering there, admiring his own handiwork in awe and we shot up. I looked down and saw a glimpse of an Agent staring up through the window in the roof of the elevator.  
"See ya later, pal," I said and fired. The elevator exploded instantly, creating an oxymoron with the rest of the frozen environment. Bits and pieces on elevator and SWAT officer goo flew everywhere, some hitting the freeze-frame explosions and incinerated instantly. Neo flew up to where we were.  
"According to Morpheus," I explained. "Kayson should be on this floor. Ready?"  
"Ready," Puma said.  
"Ready," Neo said.   
"Good," I said and kicked outwards at the closed elevator doors. They smashed inwards as we burst through onto the floor.   
"Traps?" Puma asked.  
"Explosive mortar," Neo said. "Strapped to the floor and the ceiling."  
"Fine," I said. "I'm through playing around with their crap."  
I took a step back and ran. I leapt before I hit the area which Neo warned me about as I turned, hitting the sides of the wall.  
It's not real.  
I began to run. Keep sideways, I thought, keep sideways.  
It's not real.  
I was slipping, I realized. I ran faster, desperate to stay on the wall. Almost there, almost there. You're slipping! my brain screamed. I had to stay up.  
You think that's air you're breathing?  
Morpheus spoke in my head, and I snapped up my head. Almost there. Hell, why is this so much trouble. It's not real. You think that's air you're breathing? No way, Sammy, that's grade A hallucinatory computer programing. I landed and turned back towards Puma and Neo. Puma gaped.  
"Woah," Neo said. I felt very complimented to get such a reaction from the One. Neo leapt and soared over the hallway to where I was. Puma looked unconvinced.  
"Stay there!" I said. "We'll be back with Kayson!"  
Puma shrugged.  
"Go get him!" he yelled back. I smiled and faced the door. "Oh, Brian?"  
I turned.  
"Yeah?"  
"Here!" Puma yelled, throwing me two 9mm Uzis.   
"Thanks!" I said, chuckling. Neo and me raised a leg and then kicked at the door. Everything seemed to go into slow motion at the point, maybe it was because I was moving so fast.   
You think that's air you're breathing?  
The door blew backwards, floating through the air as the SWAT officers situated around the room sluggishly turned, raising their automatic rifles. It didn't take much. I merely sent off bursts of the uzis, the officers falling in the rain of our combined firepower. I ignored the Agents, who included Agent White, and merely ran for the frightened young man on the chair. Geez, I thought. They had really broken Kayson, for a couple of years ago, that young man didn't know the meaning of the word 'fear'. Neo turned, spraying bullets at the Agents, who seemed to go into their own hyperdrive. I ripped off Kayson's ropes and grabbed him. Yes! I thought. I had gotten Kayson!  
Then everything sped up again.  
And the Agents began to fire.  
I whirled, trying to dodge the bulletfire with a near-hysterical man in my hands. Neo blurred to each side, catching as much bullets as possible, but the ground and the walls about me still ripped off from the fire.  
"Neo!" I yelled as I ran out the door. "Let's go!"  
Neo backed off and dropped his empty guns.  
"This should slow you down!" he yelled and plunged his hands forward. The effect was incredible. The Matrix seemed to ripple from the affect, slowly moving through desk, chair, wall, Agents. Then it sped up again and the chairs and the walls burst into fragments of broken coding. The Agents slipped and fell to the ground in the rain of electronic cosmic destruction. Adrenaline rushed into me and I made it over the hallway in one jump. Neo flew over it and landed at the same time as I did. Puma took Kayson from me as I turned. Agent White walked through the doorway and looked at me as the other Agents walked in.  
"I will enjoy decapitating you, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, in the Agent's sinister monotone voice.  
"Decapitate this!" I yelled, firing at the floor as I leapt back. The hallway erupted into flaming cataclysm, sending us flying into the elevator shaft. I grabbed onto the autohook rope and almost ran into one of the frozen explosion bubbles - frozen yet deadly hot.   
"Neo!" I yelled up at the floating figure. "Can you make the explosions continue?"  
"I think so!" Neo yelled down.   
"Well, do it when I say to!" I yelled and dropped, flying down all the way to the basement, where the ground erupted into craters around my feet. I had been in this game long enough for it not to hurt at all. Seconds later, Puma, with Kayson, landed and so did Neo. We ran towards the door in front of us when I heard the door opening behind us and the click of a weapon.  
"You will alway lose, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, raising his gun. I gave the signal and the entire building exploded on top of us, except we were faster and closer to a door, while our neighbour friendly Agent was right underneath the shaft.  
"Holy cow!" James yelled as we flew from the shock wave.  
"Holy cow?" Trinity asked, mockingly, as he embraced Neo. Morpheus and Daggert both raised their cell phones.  
"Tank?"  
"Maybell?"  
"We need a way out," they said in unison. They looked at each other and chuckled. 


End file.
